The invention relates to a connector assembly for optionally allowing a free-flowing medium to pass through, comprising:                a hollow female element with a transverse closure wall and passage openings which are formed in the side wall,        a male element which can be inserted into the female element and can be coupled thereto,an adapter socket, inside which the female element can be displaced in axial direction between a position in which it closes off the flow of medium and in which the passage openings are closed off by the adapter socket, and a position in which it allows medium to flow through and in which the passage openings are not closed off by the adapter socket, in which assembly the female element is provided, at a distance from the transverse closure wall, with connecting means which can form a connection with connecting means arranged on the male element or a coupling piece coupled to the male element, and in which assembly, as a result of actuation of the male element or said coupling piece coupled thereto, the female element can be displaced between the above-mentioned position in which it closes off the flow of medium and the above-mentioned position in which it allows medium to flow through, in which latter position the connecting means of the female element are accommodated in a relatively narrow cavity in the adapter socket, so as to form a connection to the male element or the coupling piece coupled thereto, while in the above-mentioned position in which the flow of medium is closed off, said connecting means are accommodated in a relatively wide cavity in the adapter socket, with the result that the connection between the female element and the male element or the coupling piece coupled thereto can be broken.        
A connector assembly of this nature is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,551.
The drawback of the assembly described in this patent is that the elastic properties of the material of the assembly are crucial for it to function. In this connector assembly, the coupling between the male and female elements is brought about by the fact that outwardly projecting coupling means are moved radially inwards, by means of a stop on the adapter socket, when the female element is pushed out of the adapter socket. Consequently, the connecting means are in a deformed state when the male and female elements are coupled to one another. During uncoupling, the coupling means have to spring back outwards as a result of the memory effect of the material in order to release the male element again. It will be obvious that after a certain time the memory effect of the material in question tails off and the action of the assembly is no longer ensured. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the coupling means, in the position in which medium is allowed to flow through, are clamped in between the male and female elements. Consequently, these coupling means may be in the deformed state for a prolonged period, which has an adverse effect on the memory effect of the material. Another drawback of this is that the coupling means cannot be of circular symmetrical design.
The object of the invention is to eliminate these drawbacks and therefore the coupling between the female element and the male element or the coupling piece coupled thereto takes place by pushing the connecting means of the female element and the connecting means of the male element or the coupling piece connected thereto on each other by which at least one of said connecting means deviates in radial direction from the neutral elastically non loaded position and returns in the radial direction into the coupling position by own elasticity.
To be able to use relatively small forces to bring about the coupling between female element and male element or coupling piece connected to the male element, the locking of the coupled connecting means of the female element and the male element or the coupling piece coupled to the male element takes place by further axial displacement of the male element with respect to the adapter socket into a locking position spaced from the coupling position, in which locking position of the connecting means radial displacement of the connecting means is made impossible.
Furthermore, it is preferable for the female element to be provided with means which limit the movement of the female element inside the adapter socket, and that these means as well as the connecting means of the female element are situated on the side of the passage openings which is remote from the end wall. Consequently, the movement which the female element has to make in order to open the passage openings can be relatively small. This has the advantage that the space which is required in the packaging in order to open the passage openings remains limited. An other advantage is that the female element can be of compact design, so that it is possible to safe on material.
It is also preferable that the assembly has blocking means on the female element and the adapter socket respectively which prevent axial movement of the female element and the adapter socket when the coupling between the female element and the male element or the coupling piece coupled to the male element is achieved, said blocking means being able to absorb an axial load greater than the axial load needed the couple said connecting means of the female element and the male element or the coupling piece connected thereto. This has the advantage that less force is required for coupling: it is only necessary to bring about the coupling between the male element and the female element, why the friction caused by the sealing of the passage openings does not have to be overcome.
Preferably the connecting means of the female element is an inward undercutting and the connecting means of the male element or the coupling piece connected to the male element is an inwardly projecting stop face.
A further drawback of the connector assembly as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,551 is that it is possible for medium to flow through the passage openings in the male element when the male element has been completely uncoupled from the female element. This may be highly undesirable. Therefore, a further object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly in which flow through the male element is impossible when the male element is not in the through-flow position.
This object is achieved by the fact that the male element is accommodated in a coupling piece, and that the coupling piece in a starting position, seals off the passage openings in the male element, whereas when the connector assembly is in the position in which medium is allowed to flow through, the passage openings in the male element are not sealed off.
In a specific embodiment the coupling piece and the female element are provided with means which can be made to interact with one another so as to couple the coupling piece and the female element, the coupling piece and the male element being provided with means which can be made to interact with one another in order to enable the male element and the coupling piece to be fixed with respect to one another, and when the connector assembly is being moved into the open position, the connection formed by the means for fixing the male element and the coupling piece can absorb an axial load greater than the axial load which is required to bring about the connection formed by the means for fixing the coupling piece and the female element with respect to one another.
An appropriate selection of the type and strength of the connection between the male element, female element and the coupling piece ensures that, when the assembly is being coupled and uncoupled, the coupling piece firstly provides the connection between the female element and the male element and secondly ensures that flow through the male element is only possible in the position in which medium is allowed to flow through. This functionality is achieved by means of the measures described in claims 7 to 12.
One particular function of an embodiment with the coupling piece may be that when the connector assembly is being moved into the open position, the connection formed by the means for fixing the female element and the adapter socket can absorb an axial load greater than the axial load absorbed by the connection formed by interacting means between the male element and the coupling piece.
The invention also relates to a method for producing a combination of the female and the adapter socket of the connector assembly according to the invention by injection moulding.
It is intended that it should be possible to produce the female element and the adapter socket in a joint operation by injection moulding. In this case the method is characterized in that the female element and the adapter socket are produced simultaneously in line with one another, in a single mould cavity, which is formed by a number of interacting mould parts, in such a manner that, after a number of mould parts have been removed, the female element can be pulled into the adapter socket by a mould part which, during the injection moulding, is releasably connected to the female element. Also the male element and the coupling piece could be produced in a joint operation by injection moulding. An appropriate selection of the mould parts allows the female element to function as an injection-moulding shield for the adapter socket. This ensures that the female element and the adapter socket are moulded symmetrically, which is advantageous since it is possible to counteract undesirable deformation of the product caused by non-uniform shrinkage. Furthermore, partial seams are prevented from forming on the sealing surfaces, so that the corresponding seals have a better action and can therefore withstand higher pressures.
Also the combination of male element in the coupling piece could be provided in a similar way in a joint operation.
The invention will now be explained with reference to the figures, which show two exemplary embodiments of connector assemblies according to the present invention. The figures also show an example of the injection mould for production of a female element and an adapter socket.